School District Orders Removal of Contaminated Soil from Project Site

The Phoenixville Area School District will spend between $400,000 and $600,000 to remove contaminated soil from the site for the future Early Learning Center and elementary school, according to the Times Herald.

According to the report, several of the greens at the former Meadow Brook Golf Club contained levels of mercury and arsenic. Officials assured the pubic at last week’s school board meeting that the process will be performed safely and the remediation will clear the area of the toxic materials.

The arsenic levels was already known by the district, but the presence of mercury was discovered four weeks ago when the company charged with removing the soil retested it and found the chemical, according to the article.

Rising capacities at the existing elementary schools prompted the district to come up with the plan to construct a combined early learning center and elementary school on the site of the former Meadow Brook Golf Club. The new building will allow for the closure of the kindergarten center on School Lane and East Pikeland Elementary on Hares Hill Road.